Alparslan Arslan (1977 – 17 February 2023) was a Turkish national convicted of murdering Council of State member, Mustafa Yücel Özbilgin, and wounding four others.
[1] Arslan attended meetings, of the Vatansever Kuvvetler Güç Birliği Hareketi (founded 2005) with Muzaffer Tekin.
His stated motive was that the council disrespected the devout, citing alleged oppression of women who cover their hair; a wedge issue at the time.
[1] After the attack, the newspaper and his family reported conflicting information over his motives, with progressives blaming conservatives and vice versa.
After recuperating, Tekin admitted knowing Arslan, and together attending a 2004 meeting of the neonationalist Association for the Union of Patriotic Forces (Turkish: Vatansever Kuvvetler Güçbirliği Hareketi).
[1] After Tekin was released for lack of evidence, Arslan renounced his earlier statements that he had acted in a personal capacity, this time blaming his lawyer, Süleyman Esen.
According to Taşdelen, Arslan asked an orphan who washed cars called Osman Boz to stage the attack in return for US$20,000.
[3] At his hearing, Arslan continued to make contradictory statements, and appeared mentally unstable, though he passed a health check.
However, the file did not contain information that would have enabled the judge to establish a connection between the Council of State bombing and the other ones mentioned in the Ergenekon indictment.
[1] On 5 August 2013, Arslan was sentenced to two consecutive life terms plus 60 years in prison without parole as part of the Ergenekon trials.